It still astounds me the lengths that some mothers will go through to punish their exes, by denying them access to their children.
Save for being abusive, no father who wants to play a role in his child’s life, should have to fight to do so.
There has finally been a precedent-setting court case that has emphasised the rights that such fathers have to form relationships with their kids.
Not only did the Pretoria court rule in favour of the father, but it also slapped the child’s mother and grandmother with jail sentences for preventing the man from having contact with his seven-year-old daughter.
Their 30-day imprisonment was suspended, provided they immediately comply with the court order.
In calling the women’s actions both unlawful and inhumane, the court order gives hope to the many
fathers who are suffering through the same problems with bitter and vindictive exes, hell-bent on creating as much emotional pain for them as possible.
It is hard for me to see how using a child as a weapon in an adult feud can be interpreted as love for that child.
Denying that child the love and affection from the father – whether you understand it or not – is essential to her emotional well-being as an adult.
Whether you like the man or not, his active involvement in your child’s life is a whole lot better than his complete absence.
But in the absence of maturity, this court decision is the next best thing to bring some objective reasoning to a battle that many dads have been fighting for years.
Now they don’t have to do it silently and alone anymore.